Deaths So Far (and it's just July)

[IceWizard]

JUL





Jimmy Swaggart, the reverend who rose to prominence during the golden age of televangelism
in the 1980s before a prostitution scandal rocked his evangelical empire, died July 1 at the age
of 90. One of the most well-known Pentecostal televangelists in America, his ministry reached
up to 2 million households and raised $150 million a year in revenue before his fall from grace
in the late ‘80s, after he was photographed with a prostitute at a motel. In an infamous broadcast,
he conceded that he had “sinned.” He remained in the pulpit after the scandal, launching his own
network, SonLife Broadcasting, in 2010. He was also a gospel music artist, having recorded more
than 200 gospel albums. The cousin of the late rock n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis and country
singer Mickey Gilley, Swaggart was recently inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Association
Hall of Fame Class of 2025 the month before his death.







Sophia Hutchins, Caitlyn Jenner's manager and close friend who appeared in the reality star's show I Am Cait,
died at 29 in an ATV accident on July 2. The businesswoman was driving the vehicle down a street near
Jenner's Malibu home when she hit the bumper of a car, with the impact sending her and the ATV over the
shoulder of the road and down a 350-foot ravine. Hutchins and Jenner first met in 2015 through their
hairstylists, and she was in multiple episodes of Jenner's E! docuseries, I Am Cait. In addition to serving
as Jenner's manager, she was also the CEO and director of the Caitlyn Jenner Foundation and the
founder of the sunscreen brand Lumasol.









Mark Snow, the veteran television composer best known for creating the iconic theme song for The X-Files,
died July 4 at 78. Per Variety, Snow died at his Connecticut home and is survived by his wife Glynnis,
three daughters, and grandchildren. Snow was born Martin Fulterman on Aug. 26, 1946, in Brooklyn, N.Y.
A graduate of Juilliard, Snow started out in the '70s writing for full orchestra, before turning to writing film
and television scores after relocating to Los Angeles in 1974. Snow was among the first to transition to
the all-electronic milieu in the late 1980s, working alone in his home studio. The 15-time Emmy-nominated
composer has crafted some of the most memorable music for the small screen, including scoring over
200 episodes of X-Files, Smallville, the Ghost Whisperer, Blue Bloods, Hart to Hart, T.J. Hooker, and
Helter Skelter. He's received 30 ASCAP awards (from 1986 to 2016), many for most performed underscore
or most performed theme. In 2013, the Society of Composers & Lyricists honored him with its Ambassador
award. A year later, the TV Academy’s music peer group honored him with a Career Achievement Award.










David Kaff, the British musician and actor known for playing keyboardist Viv Savage in This Is Spinal Tap,
died July 11, at 79. Born David Kaffinetti in 1946, Kaff first rose to notoriety with the prog-rock band Rare Bird
in the late 1960s. The band released five albums between 1969 and 1974, becoming the very first band to
have music released by Charisma Records. Kaff was perhaps best known for his role in This Is Spinal Tap,
the 1984 mockumentary film co-written and directed by Rob Reiner in his feature directorial debut; it also
starred Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, and Michael McKean. Kaff's role in the film was small, and his most
famous line comes in the film's credits, when he's asked for his life motto and says, "Have a good time… all the time."
After his role in Spinal Tap, Kaff performed in a series of other bands, including the Oakland-based Model Citizenz
as well as Mutual of Alameda's Wild Kingdom.








Eileen Fulton, who was one of the first "bad girls" of daytime television, died on July 14 in her hometown
of Asheville, N.C., after "a period of declining health." Born Margaret Elizabeth McLarty on Sept. 13, 1933,
Fulton began her rise to daytime stardom in 1960, when she was cast as Lisa Miller on the CBS soap opera
As the World Turns. Though she was originally written to be a "nice girl" with a summerlong arc, Fulton
delivered a performance that transformed Lisa into a mainstay villain of the soap, inspiring passionate
responses from its fans. Fulton left the show several times over the years, at one point to star in the
short-lived spinoff Our Private World. But she ultimately stuck with the series until its 2010 cancellation,
having played the character for five decades and ending her run as one of the longest-tenured soap opera
stars in U.S. history. In 2004, she was awarded a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award for the role.
Fulton was also a singer and an author. She retired in 2019.









Pop star Connie Francis, best known for dominating the charts in the late 1950s and early '60s with hits like
"Pretty Little Baby" and "Stupid Cupid," died on July 16 at 87. Born Concetta Franconero on Dec. 12, 1938,
in Newark, N.J., Francis began her music career when she was very young. She started playing the accordion
at age 3, and by the age of 11, she was appearing on local television variety shows such as Marie Moser’s Starlets,
and then on Ted Mack's national show Original Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts. She later
secured a four-year run as one of the child entertainers on Startime. As she grew up, Francis embarked on a
pop career, releasing songs in the 1950s and early 1960s, and becoming the most popular female singer in the
U.S. between 1958 and 1964. She sold more than 40 million records and topped the Billboard charts with
No. 1 hits like "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" and "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You." Other memorable
tracks included "Stupid Cupid" and "Who's Sorry Now." Francis officially retired in 2018. In addition to her
music career, Francis acted in movies, including a supporting role in the 1960 comedy Where the Boys Are and
the lead role in 1963's Follow the Boys. She also earned a special Golden Globe in 1964 for her contributions
to the recording industry. Francis is survived by son, Joey Garzilli, whom she and then-husband Joseph Garzilli adopted.









Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the actor best known as Theodore Huxtable on groundbreaking sitcom The Cosby Show,
died July 20 from an accidental drowning in Costa Rica. He was 54. Warner rose to prominence as the only son
of Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad's characters on the show, seminal for its depiction of an affluent Black family,
before headlining Malcolm & Eddie alongside Eddie Griffin from 1996 to 2000. Other notable credits include
Reed Between the Lines as Tracee Ellis Ross' onscreen husband, as well as the most recent Major Crimes,
The Resident, 9-1-1, and Alert: Missing Persons Unit. He was also a poet and musician.








Ozzy Osbourne performs at halftime during the NFL game between the Buffalo Bills
and the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 8, 2022.


Ozzy Osbourne, the Black Sabbath frontman and reality star, died on July 22. He was 76. Just weeks before
his death, Osbourne and his legendary rock band performed a farewell show to a hometown crowd of 40,000.
In January 2020, Osbourne revealed that in 2003 he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, saying at the
time, "It's not a death sentence." Also known as the Prince of Darkness, Osbourne pioneered heavy metal
with his screeching vocal performances and unpredictable on-stage antics as a member of Sabbath in the
late 1960s and 1970s. He also launched a successful solo career after splitting from the band, and achieved
further notoriety when he shared the spotlight with family on his 2000s MTV reality series The Osbournes.
In addition to being a two-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Osbourne won three Grammys
as a solo artist and two as a member of Black Sabbath. His first win came for Best Metal Performance With
Vocal for "I Don't Want To Change The World" in 1994, followed by a win for Best Metal Performance
for a live rendition of "Iron Man" in 2000.








Chuck Mangione, the Grammy-winning jazz artist, died on July 22 at 84. As a trumpeter and flugelhorn player,
Mangione gained acclaim for his work in the Jazz Brothers — which he formed with his older brother, Gap — and
as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Mangione won his first Grammy for the 1976 album Bellavia and
his second for the Children of Sanchez soundtrack, but it was his mega-hit single, "Feels So Good," that catapulted
him to worldwide recognition. He also garnered attention for composing and performing "Give it All You Got,"
which was the theme song for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Recent years have seen new audiences
introduced to Mangionge via his gig as a guest character on King of the Hill, where he played himself as a 
Mega Lo Mart spokesperson. Across his 60-year career, Mangione recorded over 30 albums, and was nominated
for 14 Grammy Awards. "Feels So Good" has remained ubiquitous and is frequently used in movie soundtracks,
including 1996's Fargo, 2009's Zombieland, and 2016's Doctor Strange.







Hulk Hogan circa 1985.


Hulk Hogan, the charismatic wrestler who brought the sport to the mainstream, died July 24 from cardiac arrest
at his home in Clearwater, Fla. He was 71. Born Terry Bollea before adapting his ubiquitous stage name, he began
his pro wrestling career 1977 but gained wider global recognition after he signed with World Wrestling Entertainment
in the ‘80s, ushering in the period of Hulkamania. He headlined WWE’s flagship WrestleMania eight times and won
the WWE championship six times. A two-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee, he retired from the sport in 2012.
Hogan also parlayed his flare for the theatrics into Hollywood, appearing in films  Rocky III, No Holds Barred,
Suburban Commando, and Santa with Muscles, as well as shows The A-Team, Robot Chicken, and his own family
reality show Hogan Knows Best. Hogan is survived by his widow and third wife, Sky Daily, and his two children,
Brooke and Nick, from a previous marriage.